


The More Things Change...

by Redring91



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Best Friends, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Codependency, Complicated Relationships, Enemies, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Identity Issues, Love/Hate, M/M, Memory Alteration, Multiple Selves, Regeneration, Rival Relationship, The Doctor has complicated relationships, The Master Has Issues, Time Travel complicates things, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22411615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redring91/pseuds/Redring91
Summary: -They fight across the constellations, an unending game of cat and mouse. Chasing, running. Hiding, seeking. Losing, winning. They cannot stop themselves even if they tried.But the most painful thing of all is how unbreakable their bond is. An inescapable friendship, so strong, it transcends lifetimes; always remaining the same, even as everything else continues to change.You never notice the power of gravity, until you fall.-
Relationships: The Doctor & The Master (Doctor Who), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	The More Things Change...

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The First Rule](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044352) by [Redring91](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redring91/pseuds/Redring91). 



> -
> 
> I was working on my Broken Rules and Consequences series when I watched Spyfall. And with the magnificence of O’s reveal and The Doctor’s reaction; I couldn’t resist writing a small piece about it.
> 
> Some of this draws heavily from Chapter 15 of my work The First Rule, which deals with multiple Doctor interactions.
> 
> -

-0-

[Two/Four/Ten/Thirteen]

He doesn’t recognise the man, but something about his grin seems familiar.

He sees the grin first, but even so; he knows this face, has seen it before.

He looks up, and sees an unfamiliar face bearing an old grin.

She watches as a very recognisable grin unfurls across the familiar face.

-

[Two]

Agent O is a like-minded force of curiosity and chaos, passionate about his calling in life.

Something about the man makes him reminisce about his Academy days; especially the sheepish grimace O wears when his colleagues mock him and his work in front of the entire cabinet room. He earns a startled, delighted laugh from O when he proceeds to invalidate the offending agents own works in under two minutes. It makes him feel as proud as when he used to outsmart his old teachers.

“Colour me impressed, Doctor,” O says, still smiling with amusement. “We’re going to have so much fun, you and I.”

-

[Four]

He finds a kindred spirit in Tremas – a man of science, sharp instinct and clever wit.

The features of his face are somehow familiar too, but he cannot place where he has seen them before. He dismisses the notion, assuming the feeling’s being caused by Tremas’s mannerisms rather than his appearance. The more time they spend together, the fonder he thinks on old memories: laughter in a lab, time experiments that have gone wrong, and an amused conspiracy to evade the lectures of the professors.

He knows precisely who Tremas reminds him of, even if he pretends otherwise.

-

[Ten]

Professor Yana greets him with enthusiasm, immediately grabbing his hand and towing him along.

The Professor is innovative, the brilliance of his mind apparent in every aspect of his workspace. He sees marvels constructed out of nothing, sees an indomitable spirit who knows the shape of endurance. For the first time in a long time, it doesn’t hurt when he thinks of home; an old laboratory he and his lab partner made their own. There’s an undistilled beauty here which he admires, almost as much as he admires the man capable of orchestrating it.

“Professor Yana, you’re a genius,” he says, utterly impressed. “And I don't often say that because, well, because of me.”

-

[Thirteen]

He’s pleased to see her. The feeling’s entirely mutual. She’s not sure how to greet him though. She remembers the last time she and O met; he’d grasped her hand – his hand, at the time – in both of his. Should she go for that or stick with the French kisses? Temporal, social and gender conventions have always been a bit confusing.

Well, regardless. She’s glad to have him in on this. He was the only one in MI6 with any sense; the best man they had, with an open mind and a fierce drive to persevere with his work. It’s going to be fun, working with him again. He’s a good man to have by her side.

-

[Two]

O hoards knowledge; appreciates its worth and power. They share an easy understanding; it’s been ages since he brainstormed with someone without having to explain his thoughts.

His enthusiasm merely encourages his new friend. He’s thrilled when O’s the one to find the solution, and HE needs a moment to catch up.

-

[Four]

He knows better than to give into the fancy of sentimentality. Tremas is not his old friend no matter how alike they seem, and it is pointless for him to cling to shadows of the long lost past.

He knows better. But it doesn’t change how warm he feels, hearing Tremas laugh.

-

[Ten]

As they share a quiet moment to talk, The Professor mentions being plagued by noise in his head. He wonders if the universe is playing a joke on him, with this reminder of an old friend, lost to Time. At least this resemblance is much kinder than all the other ghosts haunting him.

The Professor smiles at him and he cannot help but smile back.

-

[Thirteen]

O’s house is cosy; messy; and she loves it. They truly are two peas in a pod. She feels like she’s known him all her life – in fact, she almost rather has known him all her lives. And if she’s being a tad dramatic, she’s allowed, because he starts teasing the theatrics too.

She wonders if he’s trying to impress her. It’s working. She’s always liked it when someone can keep up with her.

-

[The Master]

It is no accident that Tremas is nearly identical in mannerisms and bearing to the young boy from centuries ago – “a new body, at last.” And then Tremas’s body is reborn.

Professor Yana holds a fob watch in his hand, concepts of Time echoing through his mind. Voices of other lives, selves he’d forgotten. He opens the watch. And his Name is restored to him.

He chose the name O with deliberate purpose. There’s another appellation he’s gained, and he wears it with great pride. The Horizon Watcher, they call him. For he’s always awaiting the Oncoming Storm.

-

[Two/Four/Ten/Thirteen]

The cloister bell tolls.

This never bodes well.

-

[Two]

The phone in his hand receives its first message: a picture of an apple pie. O smiles brightly and waggles his own phone. “I thought we could stay in touch.”

“Oh!” He beams. It’s been several hundred years since he’d practised steganography as a hobby, but he likes the idea of taking it back up again. And O’s a very nice fellow, so he promises to message back.

Decoded, the picture says, ‘until we meet again.’

-

[Four]

“You still do not know me, Doctor?”

OH! Well, in his own defence, he has been busy lately NOT finding hints of an old friend in Tremas: he hasn’t been looking elsewhere for other signs.

“Of course, The Master.”

-

[Ten]

The instant Martha tells him about The Professor’s fob watch, he knows. But it’s – it’s NOT possible! Endless ages he spent searching a battlefield for a mere sign, and he never even found the body. No trace of the man anywhere.

…Oh.

“Professor!” He shouts; but he also knows this Title has already been replaced with another.

-

[Thirteen]

The spymaster reveals himself.

She feels like a tapestry – he’s pulled on a single thread and completely unravelled her. “Ohhhhh.”

His grin widens. “And that is why I chose it. ‘Oh.’ So satisfying.”

No, no. No. “You can’t be.” And yet – she knows he must be. It wouldn’t hurt so much otherwise. This is Tremas and Professor Yana all over again.

-

[Four]

And then he sees The Master and he cannot breathe. He knows that face, he has seen it before.

“Tremas is dead, murdered by him, The Master.”

-

[Ten]

“Use my Name.” It’s a demand, but also a need for affirmation. Professor Yana may be gone, but his presence still echoes.

“Master.” How many times will they have to grieve their own ghosts? “I’m sorry.”

-

[Thirteen]

She can’t breathe. Her chest feels tight, her hearts racing. “I met O,” she gasps, staring at the man before her. “Years ago.” They’ve been texting for years, sending picture puzzles to each other. She and O are old mates. He’s nice.

The Master laughs. Reveals he was ALWAYS O, from the very beginning. For the entirety of their friendship. “I have had lots of fun.”

-

[The Master]

He asks Jamie whether The Doctor talks about his people. Jamie, distracted with their task, reveals he’s not met any other Time Lords; only another Doctor. “The life of a renegade must be lonely,” he remarks, and watches as Jamie’s expression turns sorrowful over this inevitable truth.

“Nyssa, my dear.” He smiles at the daughter of Tremas. She returns the smile; with all the trusting devotion she’s always held for her father. “It holds a single great secret, Nyssa, which you and I must discover together.” She agrees to say nothing to The Doctor. Secrets are so much fun.

He takes Martha’s family. He’ll keep them prisoners of their own fear and misery, drive them to the point where they hate him with every fibre of their beings. Until they want to kill him. And Martha, the medical student, will have to patch them back together. But The Doctor – oh, The Doctor. There will be such heartache when he wins.

Graham asks if he gets lonely. In a moment of honesty, he says yes – and the honesty grants him a question of equal depth in return. He asks what they know of The Doctor; her ‘Fam.’ And when he knows what they know, then he can showcase what HE knows too. “It’s very, very interesting.” The hint is enough to pique Graham’s curiosity.

-

[Two/Four/Ten/Thirteen]

There are things that remain constant, no matter the number of regenerations that occur.

-

[Two]

“Killing you once was never enough for me, Doctor.”

He wonders which one of him it will be.

-

[Four]

He is offered a swift and merciful death. “Refuse, and you will regret it.”

He refuses.

-

[Ten]

“I like it when you use my name.”

So much time has passed – so much death and War. And they’re both different now. But they’re also still the same.

“Run, Doctor!” The Master commands. “Run for your life!”

-

[Thirteen]

“Kneel.”

She rolls her eyes but complies. He demands she call him by his Name.

“When I arrange for your death, I expect you to stay dead.”

-

[Two]

“Oh, the Master again, eh?” But when he confronts the man in charge of the land of fiction, it’s not the Master he’s expecting. He can’t help but be disappointed.

-

[Four]

He cannot change the past. “I’m going to stop him if it’s the last thing I do.” Nor can he avoid his future.

-

[Ten]

He’s waited aeons, lifetimes to say the words. He doesn’t care anymore if The Master isn’t ready to hear them. “I forgive you.”

-

[Thirteen]

“When does all this stop for you?” She asks. “The games, the betrayals, the killing?”

“Why would it stop?” The Master’s eyes gleam. “I mean, how else would I get your attention?”

-

[Two]

Hands seize him, pulling him out of danger. Both he and O stagger back, falling off the other side of the gantry.

They land on the platform beneath, winded but unharmed.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

O smiles, pleased, and pats his arm. “Of course, Doctor.”

They help each other up, climb up onto the adjacent gantry, and start running again.

-

[Four]

They struggle on the gantry. Then The Master deliberately tips it sideways. He falls.

He lands. It HURTS.

He lies broken on the ground.

“It’s the end. But the moment has been prepared for.”

In the instant before regeneration begins, he hopes the pain he is in will not echo forward onto his next self.

He regenerates.

-

[Ten]

The sound of the gun shatters his composure like glass. The Master staggers. He catches the man as he falls.

The Master lies in his arms, dying. But refuses to allow either of them to change.

“Regenerate,” he pleads desperately. “Regenerate!”

Content, The Master smiles at him.

He cradles his friend’s body close. The wounded groan torn from his chest reverberates throughout the aircraft carrier.

-

[Thirteen]

The bomb explodes and the airplane takes a nosedive. The others start screaming. She stares up at him and wants to ask why he’s doing this. But what would be the point in asking?

She already knows.

The Master revels. “Finally.”

He vanishes. Then, so does she; reappearing in an unfamiliar environment, a dead void. No Master, no companions, no TARDIS.

She’s stranded. Alone.

“No. No, no, no, no, no!”

-

[The Master/The Doctor]

“My best enemy.”

“My oldest friend.”

-

**Author's Note:**

> -
> 
> I picked Patrick Troughton’s Doctor to have met O previously for two reasons: 1) Jodie’s performances have reminded me most of David’s and Patrick’s Doctors, so I thought it was a nice parallel; and 2) The Doctor’s reaction to O’s true identity was quite traumatic, which suggested to me they’ve had a very long friendship.
> 
> Fun fact: In ‘Spyfall Part 2’, The Master asks The Doctor if he ever apologised for Jodrell Bank – he’s referring to causing The Fourth Doctor’s death and regeneration.
> 
> Some dialogue, text and information taken from Doctor Who episodes including; The Mind Robber; The Keeper of Traken; Logopolis; Utopia; Sound of Drums; Last of The Time Lords; Spyfall [Part 1]; Spyfall [Part 2]; and others are referenced because I am a Doctor Who sponge.
> 
> -


End file.
